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2017 Barcelona Feature Race
The 2017 Barcelona Feature Race, otherwise known as the 2017 Catalunya Race 1, was the third race of the 2017 FIA Formula Two Championship, staged at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the 13 May 2017.'GP2 SERIES 2017 SEASON CALENDAR REVEALED', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 27/01/2017), http://www.fiaformula2.com/News-Room/News/2017/01_January/GP2-Series-2017-season-calendar-revealed/, (Accessed 12/07/2018) The race would see Charles Leclerc sweep to his second victory of the season in dominant fashion.'LECLERC SCORCHES TO FEATURE VICTORY', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula Two, 13/05/2017), http://www.fiaformula2.com/News-Room/News/2017/05_May/Leclerc-scorches-to-feature-victory-/, (Accessed 01/10/2018) Leclerc would start the weekend as he meant to go on, claiming pole position during qualifying with over a quarter of a second in hand.'LECLERC FLIES TO BARCELONA POLE', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula Two, 12/05/2017), http://www.fiaformula2.com/News-Room/News/2017/05_May/Leclerc-flies-to-Barcelona-pole-/, (Accessed 01/10/2018) Luca Ghiotto seemed set to claim pole until Leclerc delivered a late lap, in a session which was interrupted by a red flag. The start of the race saw Ghiotto almost snatch the lead from Leclerc on the long run to the first corner, with the Monegasque ace just able to edge the Italian out on the brakes. The rest of the field ploughed in behind them without issue, with Alexander Albon streaking into third from fifth on the grid. The early laps saw Leclerc establish himself in the lead, while Ghiotto found himself nudged out of second by Albon as he hit early tyre trouble. It was Jordan King, however, who got the pitstop ball rolling on lap six, with a steady trickle of drivers on supersoft tyres following him in over the following laps. Leclerc stopped the lap after King, handing Albon the lead from Oliver Rowland as their rivals headed into the pits. However, their hopes of pulling clear of Leclerc and co. were instantly dashed by a safety car on lap ten, with Sergio Canamasas stuck out on track. The race resumed on the thirteenth lap, with Leclerc instantly carving his way back up the order on his fresh tyres. Rowland, meanwhile, would size up a move on Albon on lap 21, with those two pushing hard to breakaway from the pack before making their late stops. Ultimately, however, there was nothing that either Albon or Rowland, who was the last man to stop, could do to deny Leclerc victory, with the Monegasque left to cruise home with eight laps to go. Ghiotto was a second behind in second, just ahead of a charging Rowland, who had himself carved through the pack in the closing stages on fresh tyres, but ran out of time to challenge for the top two positions. Background Formula Two linked back up with the Formula One World Championship tour in Spain for F2's second pair of races, arriving at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in mid-May. The circuit remained unchanged since the series' pre-season test in March, with no modifications made to the DRS zones either. There was, however, a minor alteration to the entry list, with Roberto Merhi set to make his F2 debut, replacing Stefano Coletti at Campos Racing.Jacobo Vega; David Gruz, 'Ex-F1 driver Roberti Merhi to replace Stefano Coletti at Campos in F2', autosport.com, (Haymarket Media, 10/05/2017), https://www.autosport.com/f2/news/129425/merhi-to-replace-coletti-at-campos-in-f2, (Accessed 01/10/2018) In terms of the Championship victory for Charles Leclerc, as well as the points for fastest lap, had ensured that the Monegasque ace left Bahrain in the lead of the Championship, ending the weekend on 36 points. Artem Markelov, arrived in second, eight behind Leclerc, with Oliver Rowland in third after his first F2 podium visit in the Bahrain Sprint. Norman Nato, Jordan King and Luca Ghiotto were next, all level on eighteen, with Nicholas Latifi completing the early top eight. The Teams Championship, in contrast, was largely unchanged after the Sakhir Sprint, with Prema Racing still leading from Russian Time by a small margin. Indeed, DAMS had been the biggest winners, leaping up into third, with Pertamina Arden and MP Motorsport level on eighteen points. ART Grand Prix were next up in sixth, while Rapax remained the final scorers in seventh upon arrival in Barcelona. Entry List The full entry list for the is displayed below: Practice Qualifying Report Results The final qualifying result for the are outlined below: Grid Race Report Results The final classification of the is displayed below: *'Bold' indicates a driver started from pole. *''Italics'' indicate that a driver set fastest lap. ** Boschung and Cecotto Jr. were both awarded 20 second time penalties for failing to slow sufficently during the VSC.'ROUND 2 FEATURE RACE PENALTIES', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula Two, 13/05/2017), http://www.fiaformula2.com/News-Room/News/2017/05_May/Feature-Race-Penalties-/, (Accessed 01/10/2018) *† Câmara was handed an additional five second time penalty for failing to serve an original five second time penalty during the race. *‡ Merhi was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance. Milestones * Debut race for Roberto Merhi. * Second pole position for Charles Leclerc. * Leclerc claimed his second victory in Formula Two. * Prema Racing claimed their second F2 victory. ** Also the Italian team's eleventh win at GP2/F2 level. * Maiden points finish for Gustav Malja. * Artem Markelov recorded his second fastest lap. Standings Victory for Charles Leclerc ensured that the Monegasque racer already had a commanding lead in the Championship, heading into the second race of the weekend with a 29 point advantage. Luca Ghiotto led the anti-Leclerc charge in second, with Oliver Rowland and Artem Markelov just behind. Jordan King completed the early top five, level with Alexander Albon, while Gustav Malja had become the twelfth scorer of the season. Russian Time still led the way in the Teams' Championship, although their advantage over Prema Racing had slipped to just three points after the third race. There was already a small gap back to third placed DAMS, with ART Grand Prix likewise slipping back after the first three races. Elsewhere Racing Engineering had registered their first points of the season, leaving Trident and Campos Racing as the only non-scorers. Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown. References Images and Videos: * References: Category:2017 Formula Two Season Category:2017 Sprint Races Category:Race articles Category:Spain